Law Professor John Yoo is Confronted by Protesters

Four Arrested as Law Professor John Yoo is Confronted by Protesters

BERKELEY– On his first day back in the UC Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall) classroom, former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo faced dozens of protesters calling for him to be fired, disbarred, and prosecuted for war crimes as “the legal architect of the Bush-Cheney torture state.”

Four protesters were arrested after a large demonstration called by World Can’t Wait, the National Lawyers Guild, Progressive Democrats of America, the National Network for Accountability Action, and other anti-torture organizations brought over 60 people to the Boalt campus where Yoo currently teaches Civil Procedures.

At a press conference on the law school steps just prior to the demonstration, prominent lawyers and psychologists representing four generations of alumni of the University of California and of its law schools denounced the presence of John Yoo on the UC faculty.. [Audio of statements by attorneys Dan Siegel, Anne Weills, Sharon Adams, Ann Fagan Ginger, Marc-Tizon Gonzalez, and psychologist Ruth Fallenbaum can be found here: http://re-sist.net/woof/8-17-09yoo-pressconf-audio-mic2.mp3] Protesters wearing orange jumpsuits to represent detainees, and one dressed as the iconic Abu Ghraib torture victim but with the UC logo “Cal” imprinted over his chest, stood alongside the speakers.

After the press conference, protesters entered the halls and then the classroom where Yoo is scheduled to teach twice a week for the fall semester Mingling with students, they insisted on their right to be on campus challenging Yoo’s record on torture and other more recent revelations of Yoo’s role (his memos approving of warrantless surveillance, use of US troops on US soil, etc.)

Four protesters were arrested; including Stephanie Tang, a leader of the World Can’t Wait movement. All were cited for two charges of trespassing and disturbing the peace, banned from the UC Berkeley Campus for seven days, and released.

“Why is UC harboring a man known to the world as a war criminal? It’s the war criminals who should be arrested – not the people of conscience who are working to end the torture,” Tang said as she left the UC Berkeley jail. [AP photo of Tang confronting Yoo here, scroll to picture #14: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/08/18/GA2009081801789.html]

“Yoo gave the Bush regime legal permission for torture,” Tang continued. “Torture is a war crime, and thousands have been tortured thanks to John Yoo’s work, long after Yoo himself returned to teaching. The faculty and students right here at UC – and all people of conscience everywhere -- need to denounce these crimes, not turn away in silent complicity.”

ENDS